


Bound For Success

by Sara68650



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:48:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sara68650/pseuds/Sara68650
Summary: Minji’s last hope is to pass an audition at one of the biggest agencies in the country and become a trainee. But the issue is that the CEO, Bae Joohyun, or Irene always makes her nervous. However, she can't figure out why. Soon both Irene and Minji realize that there is more going on between them than just boss and trainee. But will they actually let themselves get close enough to figure it out?
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kim Minji | JiU, Han Dong | Handong/Kim Yoohyeon, Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Siyeon, Lee Gahyeon/Lee Yoobin | Dami
Comments: 36
Kudos: 67





	1. The Audition

**Author's Note:**

> So this story was requested by @minji_bora. She wanted a Minrene story, but I don’t think she expected it to turn out like this…  
> Now, this isn’t like my normal stories. It's more on the mature side at times. you have been warned… ^_^

Minji stood in front of a large and sleek building as she felt her mouth go dry. The tall and expensive building was rather intimidating. Especially because this was her last chance, and she couldn’t fuck it up.

Today was her last audition. If she failed this, she would finally give up. She had made a promise to herself and her family that if she failed to make it through that, she would finally give up her lifelong dream of becoming a singer.

Minji had been a trainee at a small but very good company for years. They had treated her well, and she had even been promised to debut. She had been happy. They were supposed to debut this year, but the company suddenly had financial issues and ended up shutting down for good a few months before her scheduled debut.

Now Minji was older than most idols and was out of a place to stay or a job. Her last chance was this agency, but she knew that the chances of making it were slim, but the cheerful girl was determined to give it her all even if her chances of passing are slim to none.

What made her even more nervous was the CEO of the company, Bae Joohyun. She preferred to go by her old stage name Irene, but the ex-idol and now CEO always made Minji nervous.

Irene’s cold personality and eyes that would look over every inch of you as she decided if you had enough talent to join her agency and beautiful looks always made Minji nervous every time she would see her at music shows.

Luckily Irene hadn’t been part of the auditions for several years, so Minji felt a bit of relief, but it didn’t stop her nervousness completely. But the only way to get over it was to face her fears. She thought to herself as she took a nervous breath and walked into the building.

Minji’s heart sank as she looked at all the younger girls standing in the waiting room and practicing for their audition. She was several years older than most. How could she possibly pass if this was the age range the company was looking for?

“you look really nervous…” a smiling girl with pink hair said as she noticed Minji go pale.

“I am… I don’t know if I should be here…” Minji said as she scanned the room once more.

“I think you should try it. You don’t know what will happen until you try, right?” the pink-haired girl said with a beautiful smile.

“true,” Minji said as she smiled back and examined the girl in front of her.

She was shorter than Minji and still had those cute baby cheeks and a beautiful smile. If she failed this audition, then Minji was sure that these people couldn’t see the true potential in people.

“I'm Gahyeon, by the way. And you are?” Gahyeon asked as she held out her and politely with a smile.

“Minji,” she said with a smile as she took Gahyeon’s hand and shook it happily.

“I hope we both pass!” Gahyeon said cheerfully as Minji nodded as she felt her excitement return. This girl matched her personality well. They were both positive and loved to smile. Minji really did hope that they both would pass. It would be nice to have someone to talk to.

The two of them walked up to the front desk and got their numbers and pinned them to their shirts and waited. There were going to be around a hundred people auditioning, and they would do them in batches of five.

But what made them nervous is that they were both to be part of the last two groups to go back. Gahyeon was number 93 while Minji was number 98. That meant that the judges would have started getting tired or bored by the time that their auditions came along.

Both girls felt their hearts sink but quickly shook it off as they prepared for their auditions. They didn't have time to doubt themselves. They talked about several things as they watched people come in and out of the audition room. They could tell who passed or failed just by their expressions.

“it looks like not many are passing…” Gahyeon said as she nervously grabbed Minji’s hand without thinking. Minji smiled as she looked at the cute girl, but she agreed. Not many had passed already. They were known for being strict, but how high were their standards?

“at least Irene won't be here. I heard that she hasn’t been to the auditions for the last several years.” Minji said as Gahyeon nodded.

“it would be kind of cool if she were to be here, though. I really loved her music when I was younger.” Gahyeon said as Minji shivered.

“In the last company I was in, they had us be backup dancers for one of their groups to help us get comfortable being on stage. I would always see Irene at the music shows as she watched her groups perform. It was like she was constantly watching us. Like she was judging if we were worth the effort… every time I looked up, her eyes were always on me.” Minji said as Gahyeon hugged her tightly.

“I'm sure that’s not why. She has an eye for talent. Maybe that’s why she was watching you. you never know.” Gahyeon said as Minji smiled. Gahyeon was so positive, but she didn’t know the rumors about Irene. She was infamous for her cold stare and honest words, whether they would be kind or cruel.

It had been several hours, and their turns were getting closer. The numbers were 86 through 90, and Gahyeon was so nervous she was practically vibrating off of the seat as she bounced her leg in anxiety.

When it was finally Gahyeon’s turn, she looked like she was about to throw up but walked into the room while trying to look confident. It was several minutes later when everyone walked out. Minji couldn’t tell if Gahyeon had passed or failed. She just looked completely shocked.

Minji went to walk over to ask if everything was alright when her number was called. Minji frowned but walked into the room while looking over her shoulder at the pink-haired girl who just flopped back into her seat and waited for Minji.

When Minji finally looked forward though she could feel her blood run cold. There in the center of the judges was Irene herself. Her cold expression was just like Minji remembered it. She quickly scanned over the trainees when her eyes locked onto Minji’s. She slowly examined Minji and looked at her vivid red hair.

Minji felt her palms sweating from nervousness as Irene’s eyes were on her and felt her heart sink when she watched Irene slightly frown as her brows scrunched together slightly. It wouldn’t be noticeable to most, but Minji noticed it right away.

Was there something wrong with her looks? Did she hate her hair? Minji had dyed it specifically for this audition. When Irene had talked to her for the first time as a backup dancer, it was to compliment her red hair. Did she no longer like it?

Minji knew that she was overthinking things and quickly smiled. She noticed Irene’s eyes flick to her lips and then quickly shifted to the next person as her expression went back to normal like nothing happened.

Minji watched the girls in front of her perform and started to feel nervous. She had prepared two songs. One was in English while the other was in Korean, but most trainees only had one song and seemed to finish fast. Did she make the wrong decision?

For most of the performances, Irene looked uninterested, but when Minji’s name was called, the cold CEO looked up with interest. She knew that Minji was a skilled dancer. Now she could see how she was as a vocalist as well. She had to admit that she had been waiting for this moment all day.

Minji stood and walked forward with a smile. She refused to let Irene make her nervous. She looked into the CEO's eyes with confidence as she noticed the faintest smirk on the CEO's lips. Minji didn’t know what it meant but pushed it aside and focused on her performance.

The music started. She wanted to show her dancing ability as well as singing and chose lucky strike by maroon 5 as her English song. The entire time her eyes never left Irene’s as she started the performance.

Irene watched with interest and noticed her choice of songs. That faint smirk appeared on her lips once more as they stared at each other. Irene watched every move, and every breath she took. She didn’t take her eyes from the redhead for even a second.

The song finally came to an end as Irene watched the rise and fall of Minji’s chest. She was impressed, but she didn’t want to show it and went to make notes when suddenly Minji unzipped the black jacket that she was wearing to reveal a black outfit that was tight but covered what needed to be covered.

When the next song started, Irene was shocked to hear the hauntingly slow sound and looked down at the paper to look at the song's name. Guilty by Stellar. Interesting. Minji started the performance and followed the choreography to the slow song as Irene watched her carefully.

The smooth movements led to a body roll that caught the CEO's attention. The farther the song went, the more Irene sat up and watched the performance intently. The CEO was so focused on Minji’s performance that she forgot that there were others still in the room. To her, there was no one in the room but the two of them.

Irene’s eyes went wide at the final pose and quickly looked down at the paper to calm herself. She couldn’t show the others she was flustered and quickly jotted down some notes on Minji’s paper. The girl stood in the center of the room, waiting for the judges to decide. Did she pass or fail?

Minji walked out of the room in shock. Gahyeon looked up and saw her expression and instantly ran over to her new friend. She feared the worst from her lack of expression.

“oh no… please tell me they didn’t fail you…” Gahyeon whispered as Minji looked up.

“I, I passed…” Minji said as Gahyeon froze and looked up in excitement.

“seriously?!” Gahyeon asked as Minji nodded. She was still in shock.

“Congratulations! I can't believe we both passed!” Gahyeon shrieked in excitement as she hugged the older girl as Minji smiled and let out a breath in relief.

“what happened?” Gahyeon asked as Minji looked at her in disbelief.

“I technically failed. There was only one person that voted to keep me. It was Irene…” Minji said as Gahyeon looked at her in shock.

“I heard she didn’t pass anyone all day!” Gahyeon said excitedly as Minji just shook her head. It was so much to take in. They would talk about contracts tomorrow, and once she became an official trainee of monster entertainment, she would be shown where she would be living. Everything she had hoped for was happening, but she still couldn’t believe it. She actually made it.

-Irene-

Irene sat at her large desk as she rummaged through her papers on her desk and planned her day. It was going to be busy with everything that she had planned for the week, but she always wanted to look over everything just to make sure her day would go as planned.

Irene was to hold an audition for her company, and she liked to look over the applicants though not many would catch her eye. It was rare now, and for the last several years, no one had caught her interest, so she didn’t bother to show up. But as she flipped through the applications, she froze when she spotted a familiar face.

Irene looked closer at the application and smiled in amusement. This applicant she knew quite well. Kim Minji. She had kept her eye on her for several years and had even offered to buy her contract from her previous company. But now she was applying? Irene wondered what happened and quickly turned to her computer and did a quick search.

“hmm… it seems that it went out of business only recently… but what happened to all of their trainees?” Irene mused as she looked back at the paper. Minji was older than most that they would pass, but Irene knew the talent that the girl had with dancing and couldn’t deny she was curious about her singing ability too.

In fact, she was curious about many things when it came to Minji. in the beginning, it had started with Irene recognizing her talent, but as Minji got older, Irene started to notice more and more things about her. She could recognize her laugh right away and loved to watch her dance. The cheery girl would turn fierce in seconds when she would perform.

Those eyes… she could always imagine those eyes in her head and had to admit maybe she wasn’t just interested in her for her talent alone anymore. Every time she would remember their eyes locking, she would feel chills down her spine, but she pushed it out of her mind as she went to continue looking through the applicants.

Irene had only got a couple of pages in when a thought entered her head. From what she knew, Minji stayed at the company's dorm with the other trainees. What happened to her once the company went bankrupt?

Irene quickly made some quick calls and frowned at what she heard. All of the trainees were kicked out of their dorms a week ago. Where had Minji been staying? Had she been eating properly? Irene wondered but quickly shook her head as she cleared her thoughts. She needed to be unbiased in her decisions.

All week Irene was torn on what to do. The smiling girl was always on her mind, and it was driving her crazy. Why did she care about what happened to this girl so much? She was just another trainee that failed, right? But the thought of never seeing Minji again made her extremely frustrated though she had no idea why.

It was now the day of the auditions, and she couldn’t believe what she was about to do. It was against her better judgment, but just before the auditions started, Irene walked in and took her seat that usually remained empty.

The news spread quickly. Everyone knew that Irene would only sit in for the auditions if she saw talent in someone, and they were curious to see who the lucky trainee was. They had no idea what they were in for.

Irene was bored for most of the day. The only one that caught her eye so far was a cute girl with pink hair, but it wasn’t Minji. It wasn’t the girl she had been waiting all day to see. Nothing compared to Minji. But she was next, and suddenly Irene felt excitement.

When Minji and the others walked in, Irene’s breath caught in her chest. She quickly glanced down at the picture attached to Minji’s profile as she frowned. Black. Her hair was black in the photo, but the girl standing before her had vivid red hair, and it made Irene’s mouth go dry.

Was Minji doing this on purpose? Irene had once mentioned that she loved red hair and that it suited Minji very well when they had talked briefly. Now Minji showed up with that same color that caught Irene’s attention before.

She slowly looked Minji up and down as her eyes hovered at her beautiful red hair and for just a second at her lips. But as soon as she did, the girl smiled at her. Was she caught? Irene wondered, but she brushed it off as the music started.

When lucky strike played, Irene couldn’t help but be intrigued. Did Minji understand the lyrics of the song, or was she just wanting to show that she could sing in English? Irene wasn’t sure, but she had to admit she was enjoying the performance.

Minji was doing amazingly as expected. Irene had loved her dancing from the beginning, but what she wasn’t expecting was what Minji did next.

“she took me inside, and then she rocked me. She keep me up all night, this is what it sounds like!” Minji sang as she held Irene’s stare and winked at her. The CEO froze as she replayed what just happened in her head. She felt her face flush but ignored it as she continued to watch the performance.

She was relieved when it finally ended. But when the next song started and Minji unzipped her jacket to show her tight black long-sleeve shirt, Irene suddenly felt nervous. The song started off with an interesting vibe, and Irene couldn’t help but be excited about what would happen next.

When Minji got into position, Irene’s eyes went wide. Minji stood with her back to them with her wrists behind her back. The first thing that Irene thought of was being bound and quickly shook her head to clear it as she watched the girl intently.

The song sounded slow and sexual to Irene, but was that just her mind turning it to what she wanted? Irene wasn’t sure, but when one of the moves mimicked Minji taking off her shirt, Irene could feel herself gulp as she observed carefully.

She watched the slow hip movements, and the intense expression Minji held and couldn’t take her eyes off of the redhead even if she wanted to. It was like she was under a spell as she watched the redhead’s smooth and slow movements.

When Minji knelt down, looking off to the side and held her hands above her head with her wrists crossed, Irene felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine. Her mind started to run wild with images of the two of them alone and in that same position but quickly cleared her thoughts. She was supposed to be professional and unbiased. Not dreaming of what she wanted to do with the redhead, but Minji was making it hard to focus.

But when Minji started to do even more moves, Irene couldn’t help where her mind led her. The more Minji danced, the more Irene’s mind wandered, but her attention was quickly brought back right at the end.

Irene almost choked as she watched Minji spin around and kneeled with her hands behind her back. The song ended, but Irene’s mind was still running wild. She instantly thought of the younger girl on her knees before her looking at her pleadingly as her hands were bound behind her back. She was begging for Irene to touch her, and quickly the CEO looked at her papers in an attempt to clear the images as she quickly started writing random things on it to try and clear her head. But nothing could get that image out of her mind.

She looked up to see Minji slowly rise and turn and regretted it immediately. Minji’s hair was tousled and clung to the sweat around her face, and Irene had to admit the girl looked absolutely breathtaking as she breathed heavily and looked at Irene and Irene alone.

It was now time to discuss if Minji passed or failed. Irene listened to the judges and frowned. The words ‘too old’ were thrown around too much for Irene’s liking. Minji was a bit old for a trainee, but she had almost all of the training needed to debut.

Her vocals were absolutely amazing and barely needed any work, and her dancing was the best they had seen all day. If anything, Minji was ready to debut, but the judges were only focusing on her age. Was this what happens when she doesn’t attend the auditions? They pass up talent just because of their age?

Irene quietly cleared her throat, and the judges instantly went quiet as they looked at her. The look on her face showed them that she was displeased. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“so, let me understand this properly… you are passing up a girl who already has enough training to debut tomorrow only because she isn’t as young as you would prefer? She was the best dancer we have seen all day and one of the best vocals too. imagine what she could do with a couple of months under Siyeon’s vocal training?” Irene said as everyone looked at each other nervously.

“but she should have debuted a year ago. She’s too old now…” one of the judges that seemed to only like cutesy girls said, but he was silenced with a cold glare.

“her image is too sexual for the group we are planning at the moment…” another judge said as Irene sighed.

“did you forget we were looking for a soloist that was comfortable with a sexy concept last year?” Irene asked as everyone went silent. They hadn’t forgotten. They just opposed the idea. The soloist was to be groomed to become the next Irene.

Irene could see their decisions before they could even say anything and frowned as she stood. She wasn’t going to pass up such talent just because of these idiots.

“she passes. End of story.” Irene said just loud enough for Minji to hear as she stormed out of the room, leaving Minji and the judges there in shocked silence.

Irene stormed out of the room and into one of the practice rooms as she fumed. She couldn’t believe those idiots almost failed Minji for such silly reasons. They wanted to debut a cutesy girl group this year even though she had stated that there are too many groups with that concept at the moment, and they still tried to ignore her and push their own agenda.

Or was Irene pushing hers? Her mind wandered to Minji and all of the things she imagined and groaned as she put her head in her hands. What had she been thinking back there? She talked about being professional and unbiased, but she was imagining tying Minji up while watching her dance.

“fuck…” Irene whispered with a sigh as she leaned against the mirrored wall.

“what has got the great and powerful Irene swearing?” a loud voice said, making her jump. Of course. Bora.

“nothing…” Irene said as she sighed and pushed off of the mirrors.

“Just realizing that I'm not as good of a person as I thought…” Irene said as Bora walked up.

“you are lucky that I have another hour before the next group of trainees comes. What's up?” Bora asked as she flopped down beside Irene and patted the ground beside her. Irene sighed and joined her without a care for her crisp black suit.

“remember that trainee I have had my eye on?” Irene asked as Bora rolled her eyes. As one of the dance teachers at Irene’s agency, she had learned really quickly about Irene’s fascination with Minji.

“yes, I do. What now? Did she finally debut?” Bora asked, but she was shocked when Irene suddenly looked guilty.

“no. her agency went bankrupt, and she auditioned here today…” Irene said as Bora’s eyes went wide.

“THAT’S why you went to the auditions today!” Bora shouted as Irene grimaced at the loudness but slumped her shoulders in defeat as she nodded.

“so, did she pass or fail?” Bora asked, but she noticed the look of guilt still didn’t go away.

“they were going to fail her, but…” Irene hesitated as Bora smirked.

“But you saved her, didn’t you?” Bora asked as Irene sighed and nodded.

“but that’s not the worst part… she chose two songs that drove me insane the entire time, and by the end, all I was thinking about was tying her up…” Irene said as Bora smirked.

“so, you are into that, huh? Wouldn’t have guessed.” Bora said as Irene groaned.

“Neither did I until she did this one move, and then suddenly it’s all I could think of. I just imagined her on her knees before me as her hands were bound behind her back as she pleaded for me to touch her…” Irene said as Bora whistled.

“damn, that’s hot. I need to try that with Siyeon later…” Bora said as Irene laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Be serious! The trainees stay in the same building as I do! I will see Minji almost every day! What do I do now that I have thought of her like that?” Irene said as Bora laughed.

“I was being serious, but just relax. This Minji girl is an adult, and from what you said before, both of you couldn’t keep your eyes off of each other. If anything does happen between you two, then it's none of anyone's business but your own.” Bora said as Irene groaned.

“But I don’t think she sees me the same way. And if she ever found out what I was thinking during her audition…” Irene shook her head as Bora laughed.

“oh, you really like her, don’t you? Our ice princess finally has a crush!” Bora teased as Irene smacked her arm. Irene was cold and professional with most except the few teachers she recruited, and Bora was one of them. They had all been like Minji. Very skilled but too old to be counted as valuable by most companies. But luckily, Irene saw their skill and hired them not as idols, but idol trainers and they had helped produce some of the top idols in the country.

“so, what are you going to do? Don’t tell me you are going to try ignoring her…” Bora growled as she noticed Irene look away.

“don’t you dare! She has hope at the moment. Don’t crush that!” Bora said as the CEO flinched. She didn’t like the sound of that and sighed. She was still unsure of what to do.

“I have to see her to sign the contract tomorrow…” Irene said as Bora smirked. She couldn’t wait to hear what happens next.

-Minji-

Minji and Gahyeon had exchanged numbers, and then Minji traveled home while still in shock. She couldn’t believe that she had actually passed. And hearing Irene’s forceful command as she stormed out made chills run down Minji’s spine.

That fierce expression and commanding aura always made Minji nervous, but this felt different though she couldn’t tell why. One thing that she was sure of was that she was grateful to the CEO.

Once she arrived home, Minji’s mood quickly changed. Her parents used to be very supportive of her career, but after the agency closed just before her debut, they started to dislike her decision to become a singer.

It was why she had decided that this audition was her last. She was tired of arguing with her parents and trying to tell them that singing was what she had always dreamed of. But she hoped their thoughts would change when she told them she made it into one of the top agencies in the country.

“I'm home…” Minji said as she took off her shoes and looked up to see her parents standing there. They were clearly waiting for the results of her audition.

“well?” her father asked with a hint of annoyance. Clearly, he was still annoyed that she went to the audition to begin with.

“I, I made it. I sign the contract in the morning.” Minji said flatly. Her emotions were changing like crazy, but she held a calm face. She didn’t want to make the situation worse, so she made sure to control her expression and tone.

“you’re kidding, right? You made it into monster entertainment at your age?” her father asked with a sarcastic tone. He clearly didn’t believe her.

“yes. I did.” Minji said. She sounded tired, and suddenly she felt like it. She quickly held up the paper with the stamp that showed she passed and went to her room. She didn’t want to stay there anymore and argue so retreating to her room for the night was the best solution.

Her mother was a bit more supportive, but both of them were skeptical. She didn’t want her mood ruined even more, and she didn’t want to fight. It meant not eating tonight, and even though she was starving, she refused to leave her room. Her stomach growled, but she just ignored it. She was too nervous to eat before her audition, and soon her hunger was getting the better of her.

Instead of staying up and starting to stress, Minji decided to sleep her hunger away. She quickly showered and dried her hair and climbed into bed with a happy sigh. It would be the last time she would have a regular night's sleep for a long time.

Minji’s dreams didn’t go as she had planned, though. Instead of her normal dreams, she found that Irene was prominent in them. One specifically was the most memorable.

_Minji was back in the audition room, but this time it was only the two of them, and there was only a chair. No desk. Irene crossed her legs as she leaned back in the chair with a cocky expression that made Minji shiver._

_“go on. Prove to me why I should accept you.” Irene said in a commanding tone as Minji gulped nervously as the music started. It was guilty, and Minji instantly started to dance. She had practiced this dance so many times that it was like second nature to her, but something felt different as she danced for Irene and Irene alone. For some reason, Minji couldn’t meet Irene’s eyes and looked down as she danced._

_When Minji held her hands above her head, she was surprised to feel gentle fingers hold her wrists in place. Minji looked up in surprise as she saw Irene’s firm look and quickly averted her eyes to the side._

_“look forward,” Irene commanded as Minji continued her performance. She rolled her hips forward as Irene held her wrists, and once the move was done Irene released her and stood back as she watched Minji’s dance. Minji could feel Irene’s eyes roaming her body and suddenly felt nervous._

_Irene was watching behind her, and when it came to the final move, she looked at her and quickly knelt before Irene as she put her hands behind her back and looked at the ground. She stayed in that position, unsure of what to do. She didn’t expect Irene to be so close when she turned around and soon felt a lone cold finger under her chin as Irene tilted her head up._

_Minji looked up nervously as she stared into Irene’s eyes and soon found herself looking down only to feel Irene grasp her chin as she looked up at Irene in shock. The dark expression on her face made Minji tremble nervously. What was about to happen?_

_Irene slowly knelt down in front of her as she still held Minji’s chin firmly. She was inches away from Minji’s face as she looked from her eyes to her lips and smiled._

_“look at me. you like kneeling for me, don’t you?” Irene asked as Minji met her eyes, and her mind went blank. Her heart skipped a beat at Irene’s words, and when Irene looked at her lips once more, she nervously waited to see what the commanding woman would do._

_“answer me…” Irene said softly yet forcefully, and Minji found herself nodding without even thinking. Her answer was rewarded with a gentle kiss as Irene looked at her with a smirk._

_“good girl. What else would you like to do for me?” Irene asked as she slowly stood in front of Minji and looked down with a smirk._

Minji woke up in shock as she felt her heart beating. The dream felt so real, but what did she just do? Why did she just nod and agree to Irene? Did she really like that? Her body told her that she did, and she couldn’t help but groan as she hid her face in her pillow in embarrassment.

She was supposed to see Irene in several hours. How could she look her in the eyes then? Now all she thought about was Irene’s face inches from hers, and just the thought of it made her heart beat faster. This was not a good sign for the meeting in the morning.

In the morning, Minji got dressed and made sure that she looked good without being over the top. Once she was satisfied with her look, she slowly walked out of her room to see her parents waiting for her.

“you shouldn’t skip your meals just to avoid us. You were groaning all night…” her mother said as Minji’s face flushed. She knew that hunger wasn’t why she was groaning. Or at least it was a different kind of hunger. One that she hadn’t experienced before.

Minji made sure to arrive early and was pleasantly surprised to see Gahyeon sitting there too. She, too, had arrived early. It seemed they didn’t want anything to happen that could mess up this chance.

“Minji!” Gahyeon shouted as some of the other trainees that made it looked up at her with varied looks, but the predominant one was disgust.

“who let that hag in…” one girl said as Minji sighed. She knew that this would happen, but she had prepared for it.

“Watch what you say! She was passed by Irene herself!” one girl said. Minji recognized her. She was in the same group as Minji, so she had seen everything happen as well.

“what? Irene didn’t choose anyone all day!” the first girl said as suddenly all eyes were on the red-haired girl.

Minji didn’t say anything and just sat beside Gahyeon nervously. The younger girl took her hand in support. Gahyeon seemed to be a very touchy person, and Minji had to admit that the warmth of the younger girl's hand seemed to calm her down.

Minji was the last one to be called back to sign her contract. She was starting to worry that they had changed their mind, but in reality, Irene was nervous to see the girl again, so she put her meeting with Minji last.

Once it was Minji’s turn, she walked into the large office and looked around in amazement. The office was spotless, and the black and white theme was obvious throughout it.

“Please have a seat,” Irene said coolly as Minji looked at her with a startled expression and quickly rushed over and sat down.

“did you read over the contents that my secretary gave you?” Irene asked as Minji nodded. The contract looked good, but there was something mentioning a solo career that made Minji curious.

“What did it mean by a solo career? I thought your company doesn’t release solo artists?” Minji asked as Irene smirked. She wasn’t lying. Minji had actually looked over the contract while waiting. Not many do.

“you actually have the possibility of two contracts,” Irene said as Minji tilted her head cutely in confusion.

“two?” Minji asked as Irene nodded.

“yes. Two. The first one is the generic girl group contract. But the one you are holding is different. It’s a rare opportunity, but it comes with consequences too. you need to think this over carefully…” Irene said as she looked deeply into Minji’s eyes. Minji was suddenly starting to feel nervous.

Both girls had flashbacks from their dreams and looked away for a second before Irene looked back at her and continued.

“that contract is for a solo artist idea I had. The issue is that the concept is very sexual. We are going for a more adult audience. But with that comes very sexual and demeaning comments online. My company will monitor the comments strictly and try to take care of them right away, but we can't catch everything…” Irene said as she looked at Minji with worry.

“like when you changed your concept? I remember you got a lot of men commenting on your videos. It was so bad that they disabled the comment section until they hired someone to monitor it, right?” Minji asked as Irene leaned back in her chair. She was surprised that Minji would remember that.

“yes. I learned then how much words could hurt. It will not be an easy path. Once someone starts a sexy concept, it's hard to move from it.” Irene said as Minji nodded and thought it over.

“now both contracts include a dorm. Would you like to stay in the dorm, or would you prefer to stay at your house for now?” Irene asked as Minji quickly told her she would accept the dorm. The idea of escaping her judgmental parents had her smiling in excitement. Irene couldn’t help but admire that smile.

“now I'm sure you know, but the life of a trainee is hard, and you will be part of a special project that I am running. You will have all of the classes that the regular students have and then one more at the end with our choreographer Bora. If you accept, that is?” Irene asked as she waited for the red-haired girl's response.

Minji thought it over carefully as she weighed her options. The solo offer was really tempting. So many girl groups are produced every month. But it seemed that Irene planned to put a lot of time and money into this choice. Minji feared that she would let everyone down, but the solo offer was just too good to pass up.

“Now, I don’t know if this will sway you, but your profit isn’t split between all of the different members when you are solo. A percent goes to the company, and the rest goes to you.” Irene said, but Minji was shaking her head.

“The money doesn’t matter to me, but I would like to take the solo offer if that’s alright?” Minji asked as Irene smiled and slid a contract across the desk.

Several minutes later, Minji was shaking hands with Irene when her dream popped into her head. Instantly Minji looked away nervously.

“look at me,” Irene said as Minji looked at her in surprise. She imagined Irene’s hand gripping her chin and felt chills run down her spine.

“what's wrong?” Irene asked. They were still holding hands as Irene looked into Minji eyes.

“oh, n, nothing. I just suddenly remembered you are the same Irene that I looked up to as a teen. I guess I got a bit shy…” Minji said as she mentally kicked herself. That wasn’t the reason at all. It was because she was imagining Irene standing over her again. Irene just smiled. It was something that happened rarely, and Minji couldn’t help but feel her stomach do a flip at the cuteness.

“oh, you will also be part of a mentor program if you accept. You are a more experienced trainee, so I figured that you could help one of our younger ones. She shows considerable talent, but she has no training whatsoever. If you accept, you will be in an apartment in the dorm building for just the two of you. I figured that it would be difficult to be accepted by the younger trainees, and the fact that I passed you personally could lead to some jealousy, so this might be a bit more comfortable.” Irene said as Minji nodded. She just prayed that it was going to be someone kind.

“who would it be?” Minji asked. She didn’t know why. She didn’t know any of the trainees by name but one.

“lee Gahyeon. She's young but shows talent. But it will take a lot of work to bring her up to the level of the other girls her age.” Irene said, but Minji just nodded quickly.

“I will do it! I met Gahyeon on the first day! She's kind, and I don’t think that the other girls would be that friendly to her because she befriended me.” Minji said as Irene smirked.

Minji wasn’t worried about herself, but instead, she worried how Gahyeon would fit in with the rest of the trainees. Irene couldn’t help but smile at the girl even though she wished she focused more on her wants and needs more than others sometimes.

“alright. You will be shown your dorm later today.” Irene said as she walked Minji to the door with a small smile.

“I like your hair, by the way. What made you dye it red? Your profile showed a different hair color.” Irene asked with a curious expression.

“I remembered you said it looked good on me once. I was hoping that it would bring me luck.” Minji said with a smile.

Irene just froze. She really was the reason Minji decided to dye her hair? Irene’s mind went wild as she watched the red-haired girl walk away. Her eyes drifted lower as Minji walked away, and she had to catch herself before her mind wandered to darker places.

-Minji-

Minji hugged her contract to her chest happily as she searched for Gahyeon. The younger girl was waiting for her, and when Minji told her the news about their living arrangements, the younger girl couldn’t help but jump in excitement.

“I can't believe we will be in the same dorm!” Gahyeon said happily as she took Minji’s hand and led her to where they would meet someone to give them a tour of the place.

“oh, are you two Minji and Gahyeon?” a man in a suit with a happy smile asked as the two girls nodded.

“Great! I'm in charge of giving you two a tour! Follow me!” the happy man said as he walked them around the building.

There were practice rooms on several floors. All were impressive and large with good lighting. It was much different than what she was used to. Her practice room was small and dark, but she loved it. This was so different, though.

“This is our star choreographer Kim Bora! The man says as Bora walks up with a smirk. She knows who Minji is right away and scans her quickly.

_‘oh, I can see why Irene is crushing on this woman… I can't wait to choreograph dances for her. Hmm… maybe I should include some ropes in it and watch Irene squirm…’_ Bora thought with a smirk as the two girls were oblivious to her thoughts and greeted her politely.

“I'm glad to meet you two. Irene seems to expect good things from you two!” Bora said as the two looked at her with nervous expressions. It was a lot of pressure for them.

“Now, don’t go scaring them so soon!” the man said as Bora laughed.

“lighten up Jun! its fun to watch them go pale!” Bora said as Jun shook his head and led the two away to their next location.

“This is where you will get vocal lessons. Let's see if Siyeon is free at the moment…” Jun said as he peeked into the room and smiled as he waved the girls in.

“Siyeon! These are the two Irene told you about!” Jun said as a girl with a soft smile, but intense eyes looked up at them.

“oh, so this must be Minji!” Siyeon said as she shook Minji’s hand and smirked. Her girlfriend had told her about Irene’s dream already.

“and you must be Gahyeon!” Siyeon said as she took Gahyeon’s hand and smiled at the cute girl. Gahyeon was adorable, but her slightly deeper voice was intriguing to Siyeon. She was starting to wonder what Irene had planned for the cute girl.

“they just met Bora,” Jun said as Siyeon laughed.

“I hope my girlfriend didn’t scare you. She likes making the other trainees nervous.” Siyeon said with a cute laugh as Minji smiled.

“you and Bora are together?” Gahyeon asked as Siyeon nodded.

“wow! What a hot couple!” Gahyeon said before quickly putting her hands over her mouth in surprise.

Siyeon laughed at her slip. She could tell that training Gahyeon was going to be fun.

“don’t worry. I know we are hot.” Siyeon joked with a wink as Gahyeon relaxed slightly.

“just don’t tell Bora that or it goes to her head for the rest of the day!” Siyeon joked as Minji smiled.

Siyeon seemed to be calm and relaxed compared to Bora’s high energy and loudness. She was really looking forward to training with both of them, and they seemed like a perfect couple. One would balance out the other.

“ready for our next stop?” Jun asked as Minji and Gahyeon said their goodbyes and followed him outside.

“next is where you will study rapping and writing lyrics. Irene wants everyone to be trained to rap and write lyrics even if they will never use the skills. Rapping helps with your pronunciation and speed, and I'm sure you can guess why it would be good to learn to write your own lyrics.” Jun said as he walked into a room and smiled.

Gahyeon froze as she looked at their teacher. She had shorter hair and delicate hands. She was studying some of the lyrics some trainees wrote as she twirled a pencil in her hand. She didn’t notice them until Jun cleared his voice.

“oh, sorry.” The girl said as she stood. Gahyeon was surprised to hear that her voice was a bit deeper, and with everything combined, she couldn’t stop herself from blushing.

_‘oh no… seems like Gahyeon has a crush on one of our teachers…’_ Minji thought as she smiled at the cuteness.

“This is Yubin, but she usually goes by Dami. She was pretty famous as a trainee, but her company was bought out. We were lucky to get her before anyone else did.” Jun said as Dami smiled and walked over.

“Nice to meet you. You must be the two that everyone has been talking about.” Dami said smoothly as she shook first Minji’s hand and then Gahyeon’s.

Minji thought Gahyeon was going to faint when Dami smiled at her, but surprisingly she held it together. She didn’t know how well the younger girl could hold it in once they left the room, though.

“your last class is actually in session, so I will introduce you to our language teachers after I show you to your dorm. Ready to see where you will be staying?” Jun asked as both girls nodded nervously. It was now time for Minji to see where she will be staying for the next couple of years.


	2. Ideas

“come on. Let's go see where you will be living!” Jun said excitedly as he led Minji and Gahyeon to a large black van and opened the doors.

“in you go!” he said as both Minji and Gahyeon climbed inside nervously. As he shut the door and walked around to the driver's side door, Minji looked at Gahyeon.

“why do I feel like we are being kidnapped?” Minji joked nervously as Gahyeon laughed loudly. Minji was surprised at how loud the cute girl could be, but it made her smile. Gahyeon quickly tried to calm herself as the door opened, and Jun slid into the driver's seat.

“I'm taking you to the dorm. It's not that far from the agency, so that is a bonus.” Jun said as he drove them towards their new home.

Gahyeon reached out and grabbed Minji’s hand nervously. This was a first for the younger girl and probably seemed scary. Minji remembered feeling the same way when she first moved into her old dorm, so she smiled as she squeezed her hand encouragingly.

“don’t be nervous. I will be there!” Minji whispered as Gahyeon nodded and tried to shake her anxiety.

“We are almost there! Each of you will get a keycard to pass this gate. That key will also get you access to the building. Do not lose it, or you might be locked out of the building for the night. Alright?” Jun asked as both girls nodded nervously.

“Also there is a gym on the first floor as well as the one at the company. Your card will give you access to that as well. Your dorm is on the top floor. Down the hall is Irene’s apartment, so I would try not to be too noisy, alright?” Jun said as Minji’s eyes went wide.

“w, wait… why is our dorm on the same floor?” Minji asked as Gahyeon picked up on her nervousness and squeezed her hand tighter.

“Gahyeon is going to be part of the mentor program. You are going to be groomed to be the next Irene. She was worried that you two would get unwanted negative attention and jealousy. So to prevent that, we moved you two to a more secure floor. To get to the floor, you need a special code that you enter in the elevator.” Jun said as Minji and Gahyeon exchanged nervous looks.

“Also, the code will be different for each of you to track your entry. If someone is in the elevator with you, you are to wait until it is empty before keying it in or hit the call button. They know to let the elevator go to your floor when you hit the button. That way, you don’t have to worry about jealous trainees trying to get onto Irene’s floor.” Jun said as they nodded.

“do you really think that they will be that upset?” Gahyeon asked as Jun just shrugged.

“From my experience, it's better to expect it, and nothing happens. We would feel horrible if we didn’t protect our artists and trainees.” Jun said as Minji nodded. She appreciated that they were taking such lengths to make sure that they felt safe, but why Irene’s floor?.

“ready to go inside?” Jun asked as the two nodded nervously.

They got their card keys and passcodes for the elevator, and soon Jun was leading them inside the building. Minji was amazed as she looked around. Everything was beautiful, and just like Irene’s office, its theme was black and white.

This was like a mansion compared to Minji’s old dorm, where several things were broken, and many girls had to share one bathroom. Twelve girls crammed into a tiny bathroom and even having to shower in the sink. It was a nightmare, but it was also a happy memory. At the time, they all were hopeful. They were supposed to debut.

But this was nothing like what she was used to. The lobby was beautiful, and everything looked very expensive. The gym was just ahead, and Minji could tell that they spent quite a lot of money on it. All of the equipment looked new and expensive. She was actually quite excited about it.

“This is seriously where we will be staying?” Minji asked as Jun nodded.

“this way,” he said as he led them to the elevator and showed them how to use their keycodes.

“now, once you are on this floor, you’re the first apartment on the right. Irene is the one at the end of the hall. The apartment on the left is Wendy, her secretary, and close friend. You haven’t met her yet because she is on vacation, but she will be back soon.” Jun said as Minji suddenly frowned.

Wendy. That must have been the girl that Minji had aways seen Irene with. She was also the only one that Minji had seen make the CEO laugh, and for some reason, that bothered her. She knew it was ridiculous. She shouldn’t care about that, but it always bothered her how Irene would always smile as the woman clung to her.

“ready to see your apartment?” Jun asked as Minji was snapped out of her thoughts.

“huh? Oh, yeah!” Minji said excitedly as Jun laughed. He thought she was just nervous about her new living arrangements. He had no idea she was daydreaming about their boss.

When Jun opened the door, both Gahyeon and Minji stood there in stunned amazement. The apartment was fully furnished and looked expensive. There was no way they could work off these living costs.

“sir… I don’t think we can afford this…” Minji said as Jun laughed.

“This entire building and the one beside it both belong to Irene. She wanted to keep her idols and trainees in a safe environment away from crazy fans. This was what she came up with. The trainees don’t pay for a thing. And once you debut, you pay only one-fourth of what you would regularly. She is able to do this because of the profit from the second building.” Jun said as Minji shook her head. This was insane.

But Irene had been a trainee and knew how stressful it was. It was why she was picky with her trainees. She wouldn’t give up on some trainees and leave them sitting there doing nothing until their contracts expired. She also knew that money was an issue for several idols, so this was what she came up with.

Jun quickly showed them around. There were two bedrooms. The master bedroom had its own bathroom while the other room had one just down the hall towards the living room.

Minji was shocked. She would have her own bathroom? No more having to share? No more having to take a makeshift shower in the sink? It was so shocking to her.

When Minji took a closer look, she realized that the appliances were not as expensive as she had thought. They were meant to be used and easily replaced. That didn’t mean that they were cheap, but it was a way to keep the costs low for the trainees, and Minji appreciated it.

The kitchen was a decent size for two girls, and Minji could tell that Gahyeon was excited. They both were prepared for a tiny apartment with nothing in it and expected to share a room. This was unheard of for trainees, and Minji couldn’t help but wonder why they were getting special treatment. She knew that this probably wasn’t the case for all trainees.

“you can move in as soon as you want. But just know that your classes start in the morning, so its best to get everything done tonight. I will give you your schedules. I know it feels a bit like school, but Irene wants to make sure that every trainee gets time with the instructors, so we have to plan these things out.” Jun said as he handed the two their schedules.

Because they were from the same audition, they would be together, which was a relief to the two. Minji worried that because she was older that she would be sent to a different class. She was glad that she could stay with her new friend.

“First thing in the morning, you have two hours with Bora, next you have another two hours with our vocal trainer Siyeon. After that, you will have two more hours with Dami,” Jun said as he paused and checked his phone.

“After lunch, you will have four hours with our language teachers Yoohyeon and Handong. You will meet them later. Each teacher will assign you something to work on. After your language class, you can go to one of our several practice rooms and work on what you were taught for the day. Now keep in mind our teachers expect to see progress. You have five hours for practicing, and after 10 pm, we will have a driver drive you home. You can choose to stay later and practice, but you might have to find your own way home after 10 pm.” Jun said as Minji nodded.

It actually sounded good. Most of the time, they didn’t get their own practice time and would have to lose sleep to get things right. It meant a lot of days with no rest. So this sounded too good to be true. With five hours scheduled for practice, she knew that they expected significant improvement. This meant the same for Gahyeon. Minji really needed to help bring her up to their standards. She didn’t want to lose her new friend and roommate.

Once Minji and Gahyeon had looked around, they decided on their rooms. Minji offered the younger girl the larger room, but Gahyeon refused. Minji was already doing so much for her by accepting to mentor her, so having the bigger room was the least she could do.

“Are you sure?” Minji asked as Gahyeon nodded. She was determined, and Minji could see it. The older girl conceded with a sigh as Gahyeon smiled.

“Are you ready to head back and meet your language teachers?” Jun asked as both girls nodded.

“oh and Minji? You have special lessons with Bora and Joy, our stylist, every night for two hours. This means you won't be getting out until around midnight.” Jun said as Minji nodded. She was used to this kind of thing.

On the drive back to the company, everything was finally starting to sink in for Minji. She signed with one of the biggest agencies in the country. She was excited, but she couldn’t help but feel scared too. A sexy concept wasn’t something that she had ever thought about, but she was determined to prove that Irene was right when she chose her. She saw something in her, and Minji wanted to prove that Irene was right.

As she looked out the window, she sighed. For some reason, Minji thought of Irene. She remembered the first time she saw the powerful CEO. She was watching one of her groups perform at a music show and observed how commanding the woman was while still having her employees respect. It really made Minji wonder about her. But at this moment, she was remembering the blonde beside Irene and groaned as she thumped her head against the glass.

They pulled up a couple of minutes later and followed Jun to what actually looked like a large classroom. There were desks and books scattered around the room. But what was noticeable was the absence of the teachers. Jun groaned as he pulled out his cellphone.

“can you find out where Yoohyeon and Handong ran off to? I think they are making out in a closet again…” Jun said with a sigh as he ended the call and turned to face the girls.

Both Minji and Gahyeon were giving him a strange look, and he couldn’t help but laugh. He quickly explained that like Bora and Siyeon, Yoohyeon and Handong were a couple. They were also notorious for vanishing every time they had some free time only to show up later with smudged lipstick.

Minji smiled as she heard the door open. In came two very red and embarrassed girls. One was tall with silver hair. She looked like an idol and had the body to match. The other looked like she came from money with her expensive clothes. The taller girl looked like she would be another trainee, but she quickly introduced herself as the English teacher.

“hi! Sorry for the wait. We were… um… busy with something. I'm Yoohyeon, the English teacher!” the happy girl said with a smile that met her eyes. Minji smiled back as she shook the girl's hand.

“I'm Minji, and this is Gahyeon,” Minji said as Gahyeon greeted her politely.

“oh! You two are the ones that everyone has been talking about!” Yoohyeon said as Minji blushed. She wasn’t used to this much attention, but she knew that she needed to get used to it.

“I'm Handong. Nice to meet you. I am the one that will teach you Chinese.” Handong said smoothly. Minji had to admit she liked the girl's voice and smiled. While Yoohyeon looked a bit dorky, Handong looked like a rich heiress with her clothes and beautiful vivid orange hair. They were really an interesting and cute couple.

After they said their goodbyes to their teachers, Jun took them to their houses and helped them load up their belongings in the van.

“you didn’t really unpack anything. Were you expecting to get signed?” Jun asked after they climbed back into the van as Minji shook her head.

“Your parents didn’t seem that thrilled. Does it have to do with them?” Gahyeon asked as Minji smiled sadly and nodded. She quickly explained how supportive her parents had been initially and how that changed when her company went bankrupt.

“that’s understandable but sad. I hope you don’t let it upset you too much…” Gahyeon said as she hugged Minji. The older girl smiled at her. She was just so cute.

Gahyeon’s house was a bit different than Minji’s. Minji helped her pack the last of her things as Jun explained the dorm to her parents. They were very supportive but seemed nervous. They were clearly worried about their daughter.

When it was time to leave, the younger girl couldn’t help but cry. It was the first real time away from her parents. Minji held her closely all the way to their new home.

It didn’t take long for the girls to get settled. Both Minji and Gahyeon quickly unpacked their things and put them up in their rooms and then met in the living room. They were both starving, and from the nervous look on Gahyeon’s face, she clearly didn’t know how to cook anything.

Minji smiled as she stood and walked into the kitchen. She looked around at all of the appliances and noticed an expensive coffee maker as well as other things. She wondered if there would be any food in the apartment, and when she opened the fridge, she froze. It was fully stocked.

Minji quickly looked through it and noticed not one thing was opened or expired. This was done recently. She smiled, thinking that it was Jun, but it was actually Irene. She worried that the two would be too tired after moving and had someone stock the fridge for them.

Minji looked inside and quickly grabbed a few ingredients and quickly started cooking. It wasn’t anything expensive. She was too nervous about using most of the ingredients, but she quickly made some ramen after searching the kitchen.

Gahyeon wandered in as she smelled the food. Minji laughed as she looked at the hungry girl and quickly got out two bowls for the two. They sat in happy silence as they ate.

Once they were finished eating, they sat up talking until they started feeling sleepy. Minji finally stood and walked Gahyeon to her room before saying goodnight, and soon they fell asleep. They knew that their mornings would begin early. But shortly after Gahyeon supposedly went to sleep, Minji heard her door creak open.

“Minji?” Gahyeon asked softly as Minji lifted her head. She could see the problem and lifted up her covers. Gahyeon instantly understood and sighed in relief.

Gahyeon didn’t hesitate and ran over to the bed and climbed in as Minji tucked the covers around her and pulled her close. Gahyeon was homesick and scared.

“go to sleep. Alright? I'm here,” Minji said softly as Gahyeon nodded and slowly drifted off to sleep. Minji’s warmth helped calm the younger girl as she rested peacefully.

The next morning the two girls quickly showered and jogged downstairs with their bags to see Jun waiting. He quickly opened the door to the van for them and ushered them inside.

Minji climbed inside and looked at Jun with a questioning stare. He was one of the higher-ups, right? Why was he acting like their driver or manager?

“Why are you here? I thought you would be busy?” Minji asked as Jun smiled.

“I was put in charge of you. When we have a special project, one of my team will be assigned to manage them. that is me this time.” Jun said as he smiled. Just how much money was Irene planning on investing in her?

She didn’t get to think much about it because they had arrived at the company. They grabbed their bags with their changes of clothes and followed the schedule as they entered Bora’s practice room. She looked around to see the other trainees that passed and noticed several glares. Except for one. The girl that stood up to them.

“morning! Here is the main thing that you need to remember in my class. You ready?” Bora asked as everyone looked at her.

“warm up before dancing! No getting injuries because you didn’t stretch properly, alright? That can cripple an idol. This also includes telling someone when you get hurt. Ignoring an injury is the easiest way to destroy your carrier.” Bora said as everyone listened carefully and nodded.

“alright. First, I will teach those of you that don’t know the proper ways to stretch. We will do this for at least ten to fifteen minutes, and once that is done, the class will start!” Bora shouted as everyone nodded.

Minji watched Bora carefully and noticed something odd. Her hand kept going to her neck, and unlike yesterday where she showed much skin today, she was completely covered. Minji pushed it out of her mind as she focused on Bora’s lessons.

Stretching was the easy thing, though some needed slight correction. But when Bora started showing basic dance moves, Minji started noticing the varied skill levels among the trainees. Some were very advanced, while others like Gahyeon and the girl that stood up for Minji seemed to be struggling.

Gahyeon was having difficulty in the beginning, but with Minji’s help, she soon understood everything and was slowly catching up to the others. But Gahyeon wasn’t the only one that was having trouble. The girl that had stood up for her was struggling as well.

Minji quickly tapped the girl on the shoulder and had her step back a space so that Gahyeon was on one side, and the girl was on the other as she helped the two. Minji’s assistance didn’t go unnoticed either. Bora smiled as she watched the redhead assisting the others.

Bora turned around and glanced at the door and almost burst out laughing. Irene was peering through the door. Her eyes were locked on Minji as she watched her helping the others. Bora just shook her head. Irene was more obvious than she and Siyeon were.

Irene’s eyes met Bora’s, and she could quickly tell that the CEO was thinking of fleeing, but she cared too much about her image to do so. Bora just shook her head once more as Irene slowly opened the door and casually walked into the practice room.

Almost everyone had a reaction to her entrance except Minji. She was busy helping Gahyeon and the other girl to notice Irene’s entrance. But that didn’t last long when she felt eyes on her.

Minji slowly looked up and met the older woman's eyes, and for a second, she felt her heart skip a beat. Irene stared at her with such an intense look that it made Minji nervous. But Minji quickly looked away. She couldn’t get distracted and instead focused on Bora’s lesson.

“alright. Next is something easy, but most people struggle with it. Who here can do a body roll?” Bora asked as she instantly looked at Minji. She had seen the girls dancing and knew what Minji could do.

Everyone was nervous about raising their hands, as Bora expected. Everyone but Minji. Bora knew that the redhead would step forward if no one else did and had her come to the front and quickly demonstrate it for the others. 

The entire time Irene watched carefully. Every move and every breath. It was like she was hypnotized by Minji’s body. Bora watched with a smirk. She knew that it was affecting her boss and decided to try to fluster her more.

“Minji, you performed two songs in your audition, right? what was the second one?” Bora asked as Minji looked at her nervously.

“guilty by stellar.” Minji said as Bora nodded.

“Now, why did you choose that song? It wasn’t a fast choreography, so what made you choose that song?” Bora asked as Minji smiled.

“I wanted to do something out of my comfort zone. Though it is slow, it isn’t always easy to keep everything looking smooth.” Minji said as Bora nodded.

“the first thing I want to teach everyone is control. To look stable in their movements. Minji, can you show us some of that choreography?” Bora asked as both Gahyeon, and the other girl smiled excitedly. Minji nodded as she stepped forward and got into position.

Bora walked over to her phone and quickly selected the song. She watched as Irene tensed at the sound. She knew what was coming and almost groaned aloud when Minji got into position with her hands behind her back.

The slow and smooth movements were just like she remembered. But one thing that she had missed was a specific arm movement. The first thing that popped into Irene’s mind was a whip or something similar, and she quickly looked away. Why was this affecting her so much?

Irene’s mind was running wild, and she knew that Bora was enjoying this. She quickly turned and walked out of the practice room as her friend hid her smirk. She knew exactly what move flustered the powerful woman and definitely needed to include it in the choreography that she had created for Minji later.

After Irene left, they spent the rest of the class learning from Bora. Though it was the basics, Bora ran them through the basics so much that everyone was panting and clutching their sides by the end of class. Bora finally dismissed them and allowed them to leave but asked for Minji Gahyeon and their new friend to wait behind.

“I know that you want to shower and head to the next class, but just be careful. You three seem to have gained attention from the others. Jealousy is common. That includes bullying and pranks. What is your name again?” Bora asked the blonde girl who nervously answered.

“Yerim. Kim Yerim…” she said nervously as Bora smiled.

“well, Yerim, I was worried that you would fall behind the others, but it seems that with Minji’s help, you are doing much better than I expected,” Bora said as the younger girl smiled at the praise and looked at Minji with a grateful expression.

“and you too, Gahyeon. It seems like Minji is a great teacher. Just don’t try to take my job…” Bora teased as Minji laughed. She liked how even though Bora was their teacher, she didn’t mind joking with them.

“Yerim, you can go ahead and wash up. I just need to discuss something with Minji and Gahyeon.” Bora said as Yerim bowed and fled the room with a smile.

“Minji, you know that you are going to have personal lessons with me every night after the others leave, right?” Bora asked as Minji nodded.

“that means that Gahyeon will be alone for those two hours. I didn’t know if Gahyeon would want to wait with you or if she wanted to just head home and rest.” Bora asked as she looked between the two.

“um, would it be alright if I stay? I will be quiet in the corner. I promise I won't disturb you. I'm still nervous about staying alone…” Gahyeon said as Bora smiled. She had figured that would be the case and nodded. Gahyeon smiled as she let out a sigh of relief. But before they could say anything, a notice went off on Bora’s phone. She quickly looked at the phone and smiled.

“ah! Its Siyeon’s special clip!” Bora said as she showed Minji and Gahyeon.

“Irene likes us to keep our skills up and has us release special clips every month. This month is Siyeon. Wait…” Bora leaned closer to the phone as she squinted before her eyes went wide in shock.

“what the hell is she wearing!?!” Bora shrieked as she looked closer.

Siyeon looked amazing in a blue suit with her long black hair, but what stood out was the matching blue collar around her neck. Bora choked on her words as she looked as Siyeon tilted her head slightly. It was like she was purposely showing off the collar. Suddenly Bora remembered the night before.

-Yesterday-

_Bora had happily left work after a long day. Siyeon had left earlier than her giving the choreographer a chance to pick up a couple of things. Ideas were running through Bora’s head all day. And why? Because of Irene's fantasy about Minji._

_Now Bora happily looked at the gift bag in the passenger seat and smirked. This was going to be fun. She just hoped that Siyeon would be willing to try. The two were usually wild, but Bora wasn’t sure what Siyeon would think about this. But Bora never expected what was going to happen next._

_She pulled up to the apartment and quickly grabbed the bag as she entered the building and rushed into their apartment. She kicked off her shoes as Siyeon came around the corner to greet her._

_Siyeon was in a grey sweater that made her look cute and extremely soft. She was already in her black silken pajama pants. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting anything special tonight. Bora smirked as Siyeon smiled and greeted her._

_“Hey, baby, you’re home!” Siyeon said as Bora went up on her toes to give Siyeon a quick kiss before rushing into the bedroom. Siyeon raised a slender brow at her girlfriend and slowly followed her into the bedroom. Clearly, Bora had something planned._

_Siyeon walked into the room as Bora pulled out a set of restraints from the bag and quickly attached them to the bed. Her mind was running wild with ideas of Siyeon squirming below her begging Bora to touch her, and the dancer couldn’t help but feel excited as she turned around and looked at Siyeon._

_Siyeon was leaned against the doorframe with a smirk as she watched Bora give her a seductive look. The taller girl slowly walked closer as she looked at the restraints. It was like she was studying them for a second and then turned her attention back to Bora._

_“so, what brought this on?” Siyeon asked with a smirk as Bora grinned and pulled the taller girl closer for a kiss._

_The kiss started out slow, but it slowly grew more intense as Siyeon gently led Bora to the bed and gently lowered her down. Bora loved the taste of Siyeon and groaned happily as Siyeon started to trail kisses along her jaw and onto the sensitive skin of her neck._

_Bora moaned as she shivered, but just as she was expecting another kiss, Siyeon sat back and slowly stood with a smirk of success as Bora looked up at her with a whine. She hated it when Siyeon would stop when things were just getting good._

_But when Bora went to sit up, she finally understood Siyeon’s smirk. Bora looked over to her wrists and saw the new restraints secured around her wrists and looked up at Siyeon in shock. Siyeon was smoother than Bora thought._

_“hmm… this looks better than I thought…” Siyeon whispered lowly as Bora bit her bottom lip. She wasn’t expecting this, but why did Siyeon look so hot standing over her with that lazy smirk._

_“Siyeon…” Bora whined as she strained against the restraints. She was expecting Siyeon to be the one begging. She wasn’t sure she liked these turn of events._

_“if it becomes too much, let me know,” Siyeon said as she slowly crawled up the bed and gently peppered kisses down Bora’s neck. Soon those became nips as Bora groaned in pleasure before whining. She knew that they would leave marks in the morning, but soon she didn’t care._

_“Siyeon…” Bora whined again as Siyeon continued to trail kisses and nips down her collarbone._

_Bora strained against the restraints once more. She wanted to touch Siyeon. She NEEDED to, but the restraints wouldn’t let her._

_“good girl…” Siyeon whispered as Bora groaned again._

_“let me go…” Bora groaned as Siyeon sat up slightly with a smirk. She could tell that Bora didn’t mean it. Bora was enjoying herself, and Siyeon decided to tease her._

_“beg me…” Siyeon softly whispered into her ear as Bora gasped in shock and bit her lip once more. She was too stubborn to beg, and Siyeon knew this. Bora stared at Siyeon defiantly, but she could see her words affected her. Siyeon smiled as she chuckled._

_“When I get out of these, I will put you on a leash, my little wolf…” Bora growled while straining against the restraints as Siyeon leaned down with a smirk._

_“I dare you to try…” Siyeon said confidently as Bora squirmed at those words._

_Siyeon grabbed Bora’s shirt with both hands, and with a powerful tug, she ripped the tight white shirt open, revealing Bora’s black lace bra. Bora groaned. Since when was Siyeon so dominant? So HOT? The hungry look in her eyes really reminded Bora of a wolf, and she couldn’t help but moan as Siyeon smirked._

_Siyeon slowly peppered kisses down Bora’s neck once more and down her chest. When she arrived at the black lace bra, Siyeon grabbed the edge with her teeth as she slowly pulled the bra down to reveal Bora’s breast._

_The older woman groaned as she looked into Siyeon’s dominant eyes. She didn’t want to admit it, but she loved this new side of Siyeon even if she did enjoy teasing her._

_Siyeon’s mouth was so close to Bora’s breast that she could feel Siyeon’s hot breath on her skin. She shivered as she watched Siyeon lean closer only for the younger girl to smirk and shake her head._

_“not yet…” Siyeon said as she started leaving gentle kisses down Bora’s stomach, and the lower Siyeon went, the heavier Bora breathed. She was waiting for this. She NEEDED this._

_Siyeon grabbed Bora’s shorts and, with Bora’s help, freed her of them with her panties as she looked down at Bora with a predatory look. Siyeon was enjoying this much more than she thought she would. She looked down at Bora, who looked up at her with such a vulnerable look that it drove the younger girl wild._

_Bora was expecting Siyeon to continue where she left off, but instead, she felt Siyeon gently kissing her inner thigh she was nipping the sensitive skin causing Bora to groan as her head rolled back. She could feel Siyeon’s hot breath on her skin, and It felt amazing, but Siyeon knew it wasn’t what Bora wanted. Bora groaned in frustration as Siyeon chuckled._

_She slowly crept closer as she continued to torment her girlfriend as Bora moaned once more. Siyeon was so close, but the younger girl was determined to make Bora beg as she switched to the other thigh while slowly taking her time as Bora whined impatiently._

_“say it…” Siyeon said as Bora whined again. But Bora growled in defiance._

_Siyeon started to nip harder on the sensitive skin as she swapped between kisses and gentle nipping. She knew that it was driving Bora insane, but all she had to do was ask for it._

_“say it, or I will stop…” Siyeon teased as Bora looked at her with pleading eyes. She didn’t want to say it, but Bora wanted it so much. Siyeon went to lean back when she heard soft whispers from Bora._

_“say that again. Louder.” Siyeon commanded with a smirk as she sat up while Bora groaned. Since when was Siyeon like this?_

_“p, please. Siyeon, please touch me…” Bora said as Siyeon smirked. She had won this one, and both girls found out different things about themselves. Bora quickly learned that she found Siyeon extremely attractive when she took charge, and the younger girl loved watching Bora pleading below her. Siyeon smirked as she slowly lowered herself down as Bora moaned happily._

_Bora had to admit she felt embarrassed at begging, but she also felt a thrill at the same time. And when Siyeon finally gave her what she wanted, Bora had to admit that it felt so much better than she expected. She had never done that before and quickly learned that she liked this side of Siyeon. She was so confident and sexy without trying. But god would she look good in a collar, Bora thought._

Bora gulped as she watched Siyeon carefully tilt her head, showing off the collar as well as her beautiful neck while she looked into the camera with a look Bora knew was meant just for her. She did this just to fluster Bora, and it was working exceptionally well.

“I, I… Siyeon…” Bora mumbled before she let out a whine. She stared at her phone again as Minji looked at her in confusion before Bora bolted out of the practice room. Minji looked at Gahyeon as they both quickly decided to follow their dance instructor.

They came upon Siyeon’s vocal class and watched as Bora looked into the window. Siyeon looked up and smirked. She had been expecting Bora. She was still in the same outfit from the video and slowly stretched her neck while never breaking eye contact with her girlfriend.

Siyeon knew that they both would be busy all day. It would kill Bora, but she would have to wait until after midnight before they could see each other. Siyeon was hoping that it would lead to a fun night when they got home, and she was enjoying taunting her girlfriend.

Siyeon slowly rose as she walked to the door and opened it to allow Minji and Gahyeon entrance. As the girls walked past her, Siyeon pulled out a matching leash from her pocket and dangled it in front of Bora’s nose just quick enough for Bora to notice before she slid it back into her pocket and leaned closer.

“bring it on, baby. Let's see if you can leash me…” Siyeon whispered seductively as she quickly pecked Bora on the lips before she nipped Bora’s bottom lip quickly and shut the door with a wink leaving Bora a rambling mess as Siyeon started her class.


	3. Chapter 3

-Insomnia-

Siyeon blew a kiss at Bora as she turned around and walked back to her position. The dancer was whining outside the door making the students look up in shock. Siyeon just waved it off with a smile.

“ignore her. I do. Often.” Siyeon said as she heard Bora shout on the other side of the door. She knew that Siyeon was having way too much fun teasing her and leaned against the wall as she pulled out her phone in frustration.

BORA

_Yah! I heard that! Just wait until you get home!_

_You will wish that putting a leash on you is all that I will do!_

Siyeon slowly checked her messages with a smirk and sent a single message before flipping it over and ignoring it.

SIYEON 

_AWOOOOO!!! *bites*_

Bora looked at the response and scoffed. Oh, it was on! If only she didn’t have to wait until after midnight… Bora groaned as she rested her head against the wall. She needed to head back to her class before her next group arrived and gave one last glance at Siyeon as she pouted.

Siyeon looked up and winked again as Bora groaned and stomped off towards her class. If she was going to be sexually frustrated all day, then others must suffer with her, Bora thought as she planned Minji’s first personal lesson for tonight.

Siyeon smiled as she watched Bora walk off and soon focused back on the class. She walked around and listened to the others and quickly helped instruct them on what to practice and improve on. Both Gahyeon and Yerim needed to practice their breathing and increase their lung strength. Minji, on the other hand, had gone through basic vocal training already, and it showed.

Siyeon loved the sound of Minji’s voice and agreed with Irene on the girl's talent. It just needed some slight work, and Minji would soon be ready for debut. At least on the vocals side. Siyeon had to admit that she was curious about what caught Irene’s attention initially.

She watched the trainees as they practiced and noticed groups starting to form. Some of the more advanced trainees grouped up together while less experienced ones seemed to stick together too. But then there were the outcasts. Minji Gahyeon and Yerim. The three were completely ignored by the others. At the moment, it just looked like harmless silent treatment, but Siyeon knew from experience that it would only get worse as time went on. It would only get worse as the others noticed Irene’s favorites. She needed to speak to Irene about this. Siyeon made a mental note to talk to the CEO while Bora was teaching Minji and quickly continued the lesson.

Soon the two hours were over, and they then moved to Dami’s class. Gahyeon was extremely excited as she, Minji, and Yerim walked towards class. Siyeon wasn’t the only one that noticed the silent treatment but both Gahyeon and Yerim had not. Minji didn’t want to crush their spirits. They would find out soon enough, after all.

They soon arrived at class, and Minji swore that Gahyeon was going to faint from nervousness, but she somehow managed to greet the teacher politely before sitting down beside Minji. This was the class Minji worried she would struggle with. She wasn’t a rapper, but she loved that it was also a lyrics class.

Minji loved the idea of writing a song to her fans one day if she ever debuted and became popular but needed to know how before that was possible. She was determined to learn and hoped that the others would do well too.

Dami stood at the front of the class and started explaining the basics while Minji listened intently. The girl looked much younger than Minji but was clearly quite skilled. Her ways of explaining things also made it easier to understand compared to some of the teachers from her old company.

The first hour was lyrics. The second hour was rap. Minji really struggled with this subject, but Gahyeon seemed to enjoy it, and it wasn’t just because of the teacher. Yerim was a bit in between. She wasn’t bad at it, but she wasn’t great at it either. But what Minji noticed was the way Dami hovered around Gahyeon.

It made Minji a bit uncomfortable. She couldn’t tell if Dami was just being protective or if there was an attraction to the younger girl. Gahyeon seemed to be enjoying it but wasn’t Dami older than Gahyeon? Minji was determined to figure this situation out. She didn’t like the idea of an older woman taking advantage of her young friend.

The class was soon over, and after a while, Jun met them to take them to lunch. Yerim quickly waved goodbye as she ran towards the company's cafeteria. Minji frowned. She knew that it might put Yerim in a bad situation if she was left to herself, but Jun was already escorting them away.

“I have a reservation at a restaurant nearby. We need to discuss the plans for tonight. I was told Bora offered to let you stay while Minji practices?” Jun asked as Gahyeon nodded happily.

“well, that works out for the best. This way, we can take you two home at the same time. And Minji, today, you will meet Joy. She’s our stylist that will be put in charge of you. We use the term stylist loosely. Joy likes doing a range of things, including teaching dance. So, between Bora and Joy, you should learn quite quickly.” Jun said as Minji nodded.

“Also, don’t be surprised if Irene comes in and observes your practices from time to time. She likes to know how her trainees are progressing. Especially when they are one of her special projects.” Jun said as Minji gulped nervously.

Why did she still feel nervous every time Irene looked at her? It was like her heart was going to jump out of her chest even right now she felt nervous just at the mention of the CEOs name. she remembered her eyes locked onto Minji’s, and suddenly a chill ran down the redhead's spine, but she couldn’t tell if it was a shiver of pleasure or fear.

“so how was your first couple of lessons?” Jun asked as the two girls smiled happily. They seemed to be enjoying themselves even though it was very tiring.

“amazing so far. Only there was one thing that bothered me…” Minji said softly as she watched Gahyeon eating happily. The younger girl was clearly distracted with her food.

“what is it?” Jun asked curiously.

“Dami… she seems to be hovering around Gahyeon…” Minji said as Jun laughed.

“im not surprised. When Gahyeon went to apply for the audition, there were some creeps that tried to corner her. Dami was the one who helped her. I guess she must trigger her protective side.” Jun said with a shrug.

“someone tried to corner her?” Minji asked as Jun nodded again.

“yes. Dami quickly reported it to our security team, and now we have been monitoring the area more closely. We don’t want our trainees or artists to be put in danger. I was worried something would happen to Dami.” Jun said as Minji slowly processed what he was saying.

“Gahyeon is not that much younger than Dami, so she must feel the need to protect her,” Jun said as he took a bite of food while Minji looked at him in shock.

“She's not that much older than Gahyeon?” Minji asked as Jun nodded.

“she was one of the youngest to win several underground rap battles, but someone found out about her actual age and tried to blackmail and control her. So, Irene intervened and signed her as a trainee.” Jun said as Minji sat there in shock.

“so, she’s technically a trainee?” Minji asked as Jun nodded.

“yes. She is teaching while Irene waits for the perfect time to debut her. she already has the training needed. We just need the right timing.” Jun said as Minji nodded.

“wait, why are you telling me this? Isn’t it supposed to be a secret?” Minji asked as Jun laughed.

“if you are going to be spending so much time with the trainers, then you will learn about it sooner or later. It's better for you to know now. Though don’t think that because Dami is young that you shouldn’t listen to her…” Jun joked as Minji smiled. She liked her new dorky manager with his over the top reactions.

“Gahyeon? Are you full?” Minji asked as the younger girl jumped and looked up. Clearly, she had been in her own little world while eating.

“huh?” Gahyeon asked as Minji smiled and patted the cute girl's head.

“nothing. You done?” Minji asked as the pink-haired girl nodded.

“well, back to school we go!” Jun joked as both Gahyeon and Minji shook their heads at the happy man.

Minji and Gahyeon walked into the building and found Yerim waiting for them. Clearly, something had happened while they were gone. The younger girl's eyes were puffy and still had a hint of pink to them.

“Yerim, is everything alright?” Minji asked as the younger girl looked to the floor. Minji walked over and placed a finger under the younger girl's chin as she slowly tilted her head up and sighed at the fresh tears on the younger girl's face.

Minji didn’t ask questions and quickly hugged the crying girl as she tried to ease her tears. It helped when Gahyeon hugged the two, and slowly Yerim looked up with a nervous look.

“um, I think I will just eat lunch somewhere else from now on…” Yerim said as Minji frowned.

“tomorrow, you will eat lunch with us,” Minji said firmly. She didn’t like seeing the girl upset but what she didn’t know was that Irene was watching the redhead’s protective side with an interested look. She quickly said something to her temporary assistant and walked off with images of Minji’s protective side running through her head.

Minji walked the two to the next class and greeted Yoohyeon and Handong. It was interesting. Both Yoohyeon and Handong were good teachers, even if they did get sidetracked a lot. The first two hours was Yoohyeon, while the other two was Handong. However, both would walk around helping the others.

Minji was struggling with English, but she liked how both tried to help her. They worked well together, and Minji could now see why instead of separating them, they let the two teach the classes together because the two worked together so well.

Both of them helped the students that were struggling, and Minji had to admit there was something she liked about the goofy English teacher and the Chinese teacher that looked like some heiress from a drama. They really looked adorable together.

By the end of their lessons, the three girls felt like their brains were fried. It was now time for them to practice what they learned today. Minji quickly led the two to an empty practice room. She feared that if they were late, they wouldn’t have a place to practice, and soon she went over the lessons of the day.

“ok, have either of you practiced on your own before?” Minji asked as the two younger girls looked at her nervously. Minji sighed. She knew that she would have to work hard to help them improve, but she knew it would be worth it in the end.

“alright. Let's get started. Remember what we went over in Bora’s class?” Minji asked as she walked the two through what they learned that morning. They practiced it for an hour straight before Minji made them take a break. They were not used to practicing so hard.

“here. You need to drink and keep yourselves hydrated. Breaks are also important, but you have to balance them properly. Too many breaks and you lose the motivation to continue. Or at least I do.” Minji said as Gahyeon and Yerim flopped onto the ground while they downed their water bottles.

They were grateful that the practice rooms had a refrigerator full of water for their trainees. The nice chilled water helped the three cool down as Minji went over what she needed to help them with next.

The entire time she was unaware that she had an audience. Irene had happened by the practice rooms when she heard a familiar voice counting out the steps and paused as she looked in the tiny window. She smiled as she watched Minji working hard to teach the two girls.

“Irene! I’m back! Did you miss me?” a voice called behind her as she felt her friend and secretary wrap an arm around her shoulder.

“Wendy? What are you doing back so soon? You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow, right?” Irene asked without taking her eyes off Minji. Though the lighting in the practice room was dim, she could see the sweat glistening on Minji’s skin in the dim light and gulped nervously.

“is that who I think that is? Irene… what did you do while I was away?” Wendy asked as she looked at her friend with a mock angry expression.

“n, nothing. Let's go…” Irene said as she straightened and walked away quickly. Wendy shook her head as she followed her friend towards her office as she smirked. She couldn’t wait to find out what she had missed.

Minji looked to the door as she saw someone walk past but didn’t pay much attention. She was too focused on trying to catch Gahyeon and Yerim up with the others. She looked at the two and could tell that they couldn’t dance anymore and decided to help them work on their singing next.

Minji rotated between practicing singing, dancing, and rapping for several hours. The last couple, she planned on resting while going over writing lyrics and both English and Chinese. It went by relatively fast. There was so much to learn, and soon the two younger girls wished that they had more time to practice.

“ugh… I feel like I’m so behind… I don’t know what we would do without Minji…” Gahyeon said with a sigh as Yerim nodded in agreement. The two looked completely exhausted, and she couldn’t blame them.

Minji was used to the few hours of sleep and intense practice sessions, but these two weren’t. At least not yet. There was a large number of trainees that quit within the first couple of months. It becomes too much for them, and they can't handle it. But these two looked determined even if they looked utterly exhausted.

All Minji had to do is help them a bit, and she was sure that they could easily show their value to Irene and the others. She also had to admit she was having fun teaching them. It was nice teaching someone who wanted to learn.

Once practice time was over, Minji said goodbye to Yerim as she and Gahyeon made their way over to Bora’s practice room. The small dancer was waiting for her with a tall woman who looked absolutely gorgeous.

“ah, Minji! This is Joy!” Bora shouted as Joy looked at Minji and smiled. She and Bora would have a lot of fun today with Irene. They both knew that the CEO couldn’t resist watching the first day of her private classes and soon schemed a way to fluster their boss and friend.

“Nice to meet you! I have heard so much about you!” Joy said with a smirk as Minji smiled politely. She had thought Joy was talking about Bora, not about how much Irene had talked about the redhead.

“and who is this cutie?” Joy asked with a smile as she looked at Gahyeon.

“sorry! I will be over there and won't get in your way!” Gahyeon said as she scurried away from the beautiful woman. Clearly, Gahyeon had a weak spot for pretty girls. Both Minji and Joy smirked and continued talking.

“so I watched your audition tape, and I have to say I’m quite impressed! Why did you choose Stellar?” Joy asked as she watched Minji carefully.

“I would always see their performances. When I would be a backup dancer for one of my company's groups, I would usually see them. You could tell that it wasn’t a concept that they liked, but they always gave their all, and I liked that. I wanted to show that I was serious. I knew that everyone would try to apply with a cute concept, and I wanted to show that I would go out of my comfort zone.” Minji said as Joy smiled. She liked Minji already.

“now you know what accepting a sexual concept means, right? You have to get used to wearing clothes that you will most likely feel uncomfortable wearing and hear men shout all kinds of disgusting comments. There's another issue with men coming up trying to pay for your services. It happened to Irene on multiple occasions.” Joy said as Minji looked at her in shock.

“really?” Minji asked as Joy nodded.

“yes. Guys see a sexy concept and automatically assume that they will do anything for money. Irene once got cornered by one of those guys. It would have been a bad situation if your manager Jun didn’t get involved. He was a teen at the time and stood up for her. he's basically the one man she still trusts.” Joy said as Minji let that information sink in.

She understood that it could lead to bad situations, but the only thing that she could think of is how worried she felt for Irene when she heard that. It must have been so scary. Minji was glad that Jun got involved and finally understood why Jun was put in charge of her. he was trusted, and Irene thought he could protect her.

“now I decided a song for us to practice. You will have a lot of male backup dancers, but for now, you will dance with Joy and I until you are comfortable with that before we pull in any men. Sound ok?” Bora asked as Minji nodded.

“so, what dance did you decide on?” Minji asked as both Bora and Joy smirked.

“we will stick to stellar for today. We chose the song insomnia.” Bora said as Minji gulped nervously. She knew the dance and understood why they chose it. It was a dance where she would have to hold onto a backup dancer, and the dancer would also have to touch her. If she was to do a sexy concept, she would have to be able to do this. Was this a test?

Gahyeon listened intently as she covered herself up with her jacket, but soon she was starting to feel sleepy. She slowly started to fall asleep as the music started playing.

“alright. Bora and I have practiced the dance. Let's see how quickly you can learn it!” Joy said as they started. The song wasn’t that difficult, and Minji was able to keep up with the dance relatively easily.

“notice this part? This bounce is an important move for the song. It is where the song goes from a normal choreo to sexy choreo.” Joy said as Minji watched carefully. The chest bounce was an important turning point in the dance. Already she was attempting to do the move as she watched, and Bora couldn’t help but smirk.

Though Bora knew that Minji was a bit nervous and possibly uncomfortable, she quickly pushed it to the side and handled it professionally. These lessons would go by very easy if their student wasn’t going to fight them on every little thing, so she was glad that of all the trainees, Irene chose Minji.

They had been practicing for almost an hour when Irene came in. but she wasn’t prepared for what she was about to see. Her eyes immediately locked on Joy's hand, resting possessively on Minji’s hip as she rolled it to the music.

Irene instantly felt her jealousy rise as she locked eyes with Joy. The tall dancer and stylist smirked as she leaned slightly closer to Minji as she held the redheads hip, causing Irene to glare.

Joy smirked as the phrase ‘if looks could kill’ popped into her head. Irene’s eyes said it all as she glared at Joy's hand. She wanted it to be gone. She wanted it to be her hand there and not Joys. Luckily Minji was too focused on the choreography to notice Irene’s entrance, or she would have surely panicked.

“Irene! I was wondering when you would come by!” Bora shouted as both Minji and the sleepy Gahyeon startled at their CEO's name.

Minji looked up in surprise as she locked eyes with Irene. The CEO finally had her expressions under control as she stared into Minji’s eyes. The younger girl felt a shiver run up her body as she looked at her boss.

Irene was in a black suit that had to have been made for her. It fit so well that Minji’s eyes lingered on it. What was it about a girl in a suit that drove her crazy? She quickly tried to avert her eyes, but it was too late. Irene had noticed and smirked slightly as she walked into the room.

“Irene! Why don’t you help us with this? Joy was needing a break anyway! Let's see if you can still dance!” Bora dared as Irene glared at her friend. She would naturally refuse, but as she looked at Joy and Minji, she noticed Joy's hand still resting casually on Minji’s hip as the stylist gave her a wicked smirk.

“fine… what do you need help with?” Irene said as both Minji and Gahyeon watched on in shock.

“take my place. The backup dancer's role is small. So, I can probably show you once, and you will have it.” Joy said as she patted Minji’s hip, signaling her to get into position. Irene growled lowly as she watched Joy smirk and blow her a kiss before she got into position.

Gahyeon had been resting with her thick jacket that her parents had given her draped over her so that all you could see was her closed eyes, but when the door opened, she opened her eyes to spot the powerful yet tiny CEO walking into the room.

Irene’s stare-off with Joy did not go unnoticed on the younger girl or the way Irene glared at Joy's hand. Was there something between Minji and Irene? No. she had to be dreaming this, right?

When Bora shouted Irene’s name, though, Gahyeon jumped in shock. This wasn’t a dream, and from the way Irene looked at her new friend, there was definitely an attraction there. But did Minji feel the same? Gahyeon was suddenly curious about her friend's feelings.

Gahyeon silently watched as she peeked out of her jacket as Joy showed Irene what to do, and then the stylist slowly walked over to flop down beside the younger girl.

“ah, you are awake now, huh?” Joy asked as Gahyeon nodded and slowly shifted the jacket so that she could see better.

“does Irene like Minji?” Gahyeon asked automatically, but quickly she panicked as she covered her mouth and looked at Joy apologetically.

The stylist laughed as she looked at the tiny girl. She liked her. The younger girl was more observant than she had initially given her credit for.

“yes. You have a good eye. Irene has had her eye on Minji for years. Your friend started out at a young age, and Irene spotted her talent, but her company wouldn’t let her take Minji from them. they saw her potential too.” Joy said as Gahyeon watched the two dancing.

“once Minji became older, Irene’s feelings started to develop. She would always talk to us about this amazing dancer that had the cutest smile, but as soon as the music started, she could look like a feral animal. She still doesn’t want to acknowledge her feelings for your friend, though.” Joy said as Gahyeon looked up at her.

“why?” the pink-haired girl asked as Joy laughed and shrugged.

“I have no idea. They both are adults and watch how they react to each other. They clearly are both flustered with this dance. Every time Irene touches Minji, you can watch her breath catch. They are obviously both attracted to each other, but maybe they are too dense to realize it?” Joy joked as Gahyeon smiled.

“I want to help…” Gahyeon said with an evil smirk as Joy laughed. Oh, she REALLY liked this girl. If Gahyeon helped, then their plan might go even smoother.

“welcome abord the Minrene ship!” Joy said jokingly as she shook Gahyeon’s hand, causing the younger girl to laugh. But soon, their eyes were back on Minji and Irene as they watched the two.

-Minji-

Minji’s heart would skip a beat every time Irene was close, and this choreography was going to be the death of her, she swore. But she was slowly starting to realize that maybe it wasn’t just fear or nervousness that made Minji’s body react this way.

When Irene’s hand first rested on Minji’s hip, her touch was gentle and light. She didn’t want to make her more uncomfortable, but the more they practiced, the more her hand lingered on her hip possessively. Minji could feel the heat radiating from her hand and felt a shiver of excitement run up her body at every touch. She soon realized that she wanted to feel more of those warm hands.

Was this something different? Before, she had thought that Irene had made her nervous because of her talent and powerful position, but the way their eyes locked in the mirror as Irene rested her hand on Minji’s hip, she felt waves of excitement. The CEOs look made one word ring in her head. ‘mine,’ and for some reason, that excited the redhead.

As Irene’s grip tightened slightly, Minji let out a soft groan that was just loud enough for the two to hear. Irene was startled at first but soon smirked as she continued the choreography. Not once did either of the two pause at Minji’s slip up.

But Irene couldn’t help but smile as she watched the girl's face flush the same shade of red as her hair. She was now too nervous to look at Irene. Was she laughing at her? did she disgust her? she couldn’t dare to look at her.

But Irene didn’t like it that the younger girl suddenly started avoiding eye contact. Once it was time for Irene to rest her hand on Minji’s hip once more, she grasped it firmer than she had before as she leaned closer to Minji’s ear.

“Minji. Look at me.” Irene whispered. It wasn’t asking, it was demanding, and automatically she looked up in surprise, locking eyes in the mirror as Irene smiled.

“good girl…” she whispered as Minji felt heat rising to her face once more. Why did those words affect her so much?

But Irene's gaze was hypnotizing as the two continued to stare into each other's eyes as they finished the choreography. They finished it perfectly, but neither Bora, Joy, or Gahyeon noticed. Instead, they watched like three fangirls as the song slowly came to an end.

Irene slowly stepped back. Her hands wanted to linger on Minji, but she knew that she shouldn’t. Minji also felt the residual heat from her hands. It was like phantom touches, and she wanted them to be real once more.

“very nice!” Bora shouted as Minji went to speak to the older girl. Irene waited to hear what the redhead was going to say, but she lost the courage with Bora’s interruption. Irene glared at her friend as the dancer shrugged and continued speaking.

“now that you have practiced, we need Joy to measure you for your stage outfits. This will happen regularly if your weight fluctuates, but it's just part of idol life…” Bora said as Irene quickly looked to Joy, who looked way too happy as she walked over to Minji.

“now, don’t mind me… I have to be a bit touchy. It's part of the job…” Joy said as she slowly wrapped the cord around Minji’s breasts. Her hands purposely brushed Minji’s chest. Irene was sure of it and found herself growling in frustration as Bora smirked. The possessive look was all over the CEO. Bora was glad that she wasn’t the only one sexually frustrated right now. She knew Irene wished that she was the one touching Minji instead, but this was only the beginning of Bora’s plan.


End file.
